At least in Belgium, this just in case behaviour is strongly discouraged by most younger general practitioners, who are made aware of the costs to society during training.

Older doctors might still give you referals to specialists or radiographers upon request, and check every tickbox on a blood test sheet, but younger doctors are tought that every additional test puts strain on the solvency and labor capacity of the health care system, and will not have irrelevant or unnecessary tests performed.

In Belgium, MRI and CAT scan capacity is limited, and you can't have an MRI on a whim - you need to be referred by a general practitioner to get one.